A Wind In Cairo [Import] [Paperback]

Judith Tarr (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Bantam Books (1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553175963
• ISBN-13: 978-0553175967
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,076,258 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I have a lot of academic credentials (PhD from Yale, MA from Cambridge University, AB from Mt. Holyoke) and taught writing and Latin at Wesleyan University in Connecticut--before I ran away from it all to live on a mesa in Arizona. I breed and ride Lipizzan horses, read and study history (and make up my own alternate and fantastical versions), and write--novels, short stories, articles. I teach writing online (details at http://capriole.smoe.org) and blog on the livejournals as dancinghorse. My alter ego is author Caitlin Brennan, who also has a plog on amazon.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Fabulous book for anyone who loves horses and magic!, January 1, 2000

By 

Katharine Reynolds (Northern California, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Wind in Cairo (Mass Market Paperback)

This book, set in Cairo during the time of Saladin and the Crusades, focuses on a wealthy and foolish young Egyptian man, who insults a magician. As punishment, he is turned into an Arabian stallion, destined to be gelded and sold. But the daughter of his family's sworn enemy buys him, and he is then forced to be trained to be her riding animal. Eventually, he must discover what true love and loyalty is when his mistress goes to war with Saladin. And will he ever again have a human mouth to tell her he loves her? This is a fast paced and wonderful read for anyone who loves horses, rides, trains, and dreams of racing across the sands of time, or believes true love can always be victorious.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Wind in Cairo, September 23, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: A Wind in Cairo (Mass Market Paperback)

This is an entertaining work of historical fantasy, set during the Crusades.

Hasan, a young wastrel, finally goes too far: he rapes the daughter of his benefactor, a magus. In retaliation, the magus changes him into a horse. In this form, he must learn lessons of obedience and courage, and finally find redemption.

Tarr is a horsewoman, and her descriptions of Hasan in his horse form are wonderful. In addition, her writing flows well, and this story has much of the action that her later work tends to lack. Characters are generally attractive, and there are some wonderfully active and humorous scenes.

Something bothered me here, though, and that was the reduction of the medieval Islamic enslavement of women to a mere plot device, to be outwitted by the characters at will. As well, the subjugation of Islam's enemies, the whole idea of holy war, and the horrendous custom of male castration get, well, romanticized. As a reader I'm certainly more sensitive to these portrayals due to current events, but even taking the book purely on its own terms, I think that these themes deserve more serious and critical treatment than Tarr gives them.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of my all-time favorite re-reads..., December 27, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: A Wind in Cairo (Mass Market Paperback)

This is the story of a young man who, in punishment for a crime, is transformed into a horse by a Arab magician. He becomes the warhorse of the magician's daughter, with whom he falls in love. The young woman goes to war in the army of Saladin. A great deal of creative history (a la Mary Renault and others of Tarr's books) is given, as is a lot of fascinating period detail. This is a great story for those who like horses (and horse training) and fantasy and history. If you like Judith Tarr's other books, you'd probably like this one. It's been a while since I've (re) read it, but it is one that I have gone back to time and time again...